Editorial: Martin's first steps into the future

Published 5:48 pm, Thursday, November 14, 2013

David Martin took some promising initial steps as mayor-elect on Wednesday.

It's a pretty simple concept, but preparing for his new role as the city's top official by walking through the Government Center and introducing himself can pay quick dividends. Martin started with the top three floors, shook hands with city workers, and pledged to work his way down the remaining floors in the days to come.

If it sounds like a bit of a stunt (the media did, after all, follow Martin with notebooks and cameras), it's also pretty typical of his style of management. He wants to know who is on the payroll, and what they are doing. Based on his history, we have confidence it won't be the last conversation he has with many of these workers.

Among the employees he has pledged to challenge are those in the city's technology department. During his two-hour tour, he joked to IT Director Mike Pensiero, that "I'm going to keep you guys busy."

"There's an avalanche of issues that I'm going to say, `Can't we solve this with technology?' " Martin said.

These were not the promises that drew the most attention on the campaign trail, but we're hopeful that Martin will guide city hall -- which has been woefully behind for years in terms of technology -- into new directions. Many of the ideas he mentioned to us would better serve residents who would need a tour of their own to find their way around the Government Center.

Martin has mentioned putting kiosks in the lobby to reduce lines to the city clerk's office, making public documents more available on the city's website; videotaping all public meetings and making them accessible online; and creating an app so residents could handle basic functions such as paying parking fees and filing complaints about missed garbage pickups.

Some of these could be easy fixes; others will certainly take time. But we are encouraged that Martin hasn't already lost his enthusiasm for his vision of a "more citizen-friendly government" post-election.

John Zito, who ran for the office as an unaffiliated candidate, repeatedly pledged that he would take his office door right off the hinges if elected. We certainly don't want a mayor's office with closed doors, a reputation Mayor Michael Pavia's administration picked up pretty quickly after Election Day four years ago. But even better than an open door is a mayor who leaves the office once in a while in search of identifying and solving problems.

There won't be a photo opportunity after Martin is sworn in Dec. 1 and the real work begins to make his visions become realities. But we'll watch his next steps closely.